Board of Directors

Meet the Empty Cradle Board of Directors & Leaders

Rachel Redhouse

Director

Rachel first came to Empty Cradle 7 years after her second loss. She and her husband, John, were looking for a place where they could be among people who understood their grief. In 2001, Rachel and John were living in New Mexico when they suffered a miscarriage at 12 weeks. Rachel was not offered any support or resources to help deal with her grief. In 2003, she became pregnant again and welcomed a son, Jonathan Taylor LeRoy Cash Redhouse, 8 weeks early. “JT” passed away when he was 3 days old due to complications from posterior urethral valves. Again, she and John were not offered any support or bereavement resources. In 2010, Rachel and John attended an Empty Cradle support meeting and finally felt supported in their grief. They began volunteering as meeting facilitators and became co-directors in 2015. Rachel and John have four subsequent children.

John Redhouse

Director & Treasurer

John currently serves as co-director and treasurer. After John’s wife’s miscarriage in 2001 and the loss of his infant son, JT, in 2003, he was desperate to find support as a bereaved father. After finding Empty Cradle in 2010, John felt supported, but he still felt there was something missing in his grief journey. With the backing of the Board of Directors, John began a men’s break-out support group during the East County meetings. Even after passing on the meeting facilitation to new facilitators, Brian has continued to hold the men’s support. John continues to make father’s bereavement support a priority in his work with Empty Cradle.

Alexis Melrose

Assistant Director

Alexis currently serves as Assistant Director. She has served as the Secretary and a meeting facilitator for our East County/Central San Diego support meeting. On March 15, 2014 Alexis and her husband Brian lost their second child, Benjamin, when a car accident caused a placental abruption at 27 weeks. They have since gone on to have a subsequent child.

Lori Knierium

Secretary

Angelique Kiss

Volunteer Coordinator

Suzanne Wells

Community Outreach

Suzanne is the Community Outreach Coordinator. Previously, she served as Assistant Director, Volunteer Coordinator and Meeting Facilitator. Suzanne had 2 miscarriages and also lost her daughter, Serena, in 2007 due to PROM caused by chorioamnionitis. Prior to her losses, she was fortunate to have 2 sons, both of whom are now teenagers. Suzanne joined Empty Cradle a few weeks after losing her daughter, attending meetings regularly for about a year before becoming a volunteer. She continues to provide phone support to newly bereaved parents as well as volunteering as a loss parent spokesperson, to educate medical providers on how to maximize the level of emotional care for families who are experiencing pregnancy and/or neonatal loss.

Tami Kindig

Member at Large

Tami is our Member at Large and a phone volunteer. She lost her first daughter, Angela, in 2006 due to a cord accident at 39 weeks. She had 4 miscarriages after Angela, all in the first trimester. In 2012, she was once again pregnant, and lost that baby, named Carter, at 17 weeks, due to another possible cord accident. Tami and her husband found Empty Cradle in 2007, just 3 weeks after losing Angela. She attended almost every meeting for 8 years. She couldn’t imagine going through all of her losses without Empty Cradle and she found the support she needed. She has also made some great friends that have experienced their own losses, and they have gone through their grief journey together.

Taylor Denniston

Social Media Coordinator

Taylor is our Social Media Coordinator. In May 2014, her daughter Madilyn was born 9 weeks early from pregnancy complications and passed away after an 11 day stay in the NICU. A few weeks later, Taylor found Empty Cradle. She quickly became involved in volunteering with Empty Cradle's annual Walk to Remember and has found joy in making connections with other loss parents. She currently is an advocate for speaking openly and freely about losses and working to remove the stigma attached to miscarriages and infant loss.

Amy Donahue

Meeting Facilitator East County

After losing her daughter at 10 weeks gestation, Amy found Empty Cradle but felt that her early loss wasn't as validated as others. Sharing these feelings in the group she was met with nothing but love and acceptance. Through the loss Amy became a certified bereavement doula through StillBirthday, and started volunteering with Empty Cradle. Amy is currently the meeting facilitator for our East County/Central San Diego support meeting, and nurse liaison for Empty Cradle.

Megan Welch

Meeting Facilitator East County

Stephanie Gehrs

Riverside County Lead, Meeting Facilitator Corona

Shannon Casey

Master Librarian, Meeting Facilitator UTC

Jacqueline Azize-Brewer

Meeting Facilitator UTC and Spanish Support/ Apoyo en Espanol

Salome Dubenetzky

Mother to Mother Coordinator

As a mother who has experienced a stillbirth, Salome Dubenetzy’s passion to help those coping with loss is immense. She was awarded her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2016, and her interests lie in the area of maternal mental health, particularly perinatal loss. She is a Board Member for Empty Cradle and also the Mother to Mother Coordinator which is an in-hospital based peer support program that provides social support and care to parents coping with miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death. Her goal is to provide ongoing support to those who have experienced loss so more parents receive access to care and know that there is hope.

Catherine McNulty

Meeting Facilitator Carlsbad

Catherine first came to Empty Cradle to help recover from infant loss. Empty Cradle was a source of support and connection, and helped her realize that infant loss is far more common than most people realize. The loss of her son, Jackson Robert, forever changed the trajectory of her life and sent her looking for meaning and purpose for the life that she was given. She finds meaning and purpose in supporting others as a co-facilitator of monthly support meetings in North County. She founded Grief INSPIRED in 2016, a business that helps grieving individuals find hope in a new future. She currently speaks, writes, and offers grief coaching to those who want to do more than survive grief.